Play a cricket team from Pakistan these days, and you are bound to run into Misbah-ul Haq. The 39-year-old underlined his value yet again in the opening game of the Champions League T20 qualifiers against the Otago Volta with an unflustered innings even though the Faislabad Wolves crashed to an eight-wicket defeat at the PCA Stadium here on Tuesday.
Misbah (46) played virtually a lone hand, his only real support coming from one-drop bat Khurram Shahzad (27) as the Otago bowlers led by the restrictive Ian Butler (2/23) capitalised on the Wolves’ fragility to keep the chase down to a manageable 140, their top order knocking off the runs in a frills-free chase.
Opener Hamish Rutherford (25, 12b, 1x4, 3x6) and Brendon McCullum steered the early Volts innings perfectly, the former unleashing the big shots upfront, and his captain keeping one end going till almost the very end, in the process, winning the battle of the captains with his unbeaten 83 (64b, 9x4, 2x6).
Otago also underlined why they are such a compact side and how their preparations for this tournament have been spot on. Other than off-spinner Nathan McCullum, who came in for some rough treatment from Misbah (46, 34b, 4x4, 3x6), the Kiwi bowlers gave very little away.
Helping their cause of course was some profligate batting, particularly by the Wolves’ top order. Openers Ammar Mahmood and Ali Waqas perished to ill-judged shots and the trend was to continue down the order.
So regular was the fall of wickets that the Wolves never got any traction into their effort other than a 61-run stand for the fourth wicket between Mishab and Shehzad. And once their captain was gone, Faislabad simply lost their way, squeezed down to just 30-odd in their final few overs.
Samiullah Khan struck early to remove Neil Broom, caught at slip, but that was almost all the happiness the Pakistanis would taste on the day. Rutherford blasted his way to 25 with some meaty hitting, and his departure set the stage for the veterans, McCullum and Derek de Boorder to see the side home with a combination of unfussed cricket and blistering strokeplay.
The Wolves had taken all of 11 overs to cross the 50 mark, the Volts did it in 7.3. The hundred came up in the 16th and 15th overs respectively, the difference being that Faislabad were four wickets down by that stage and the Kiwis had lost just two.
In the end, Otago had 13 balls left of their 20 overs, and eight wickets in hand, in leaving this early marker for the other two teams in the competition, De Boorder kept his captain company in their unbeaten 101-run partnership for the third wicket off just 75 balls with a calm, 28-ball 30 not out that had two boundaries and a sweetly timed six.
Scorecard
Faisalabad Wolves: A. Mahmood c Broom b McMillan 5, A. Waqas c Rutherford b McMillan 4 K. Shehzad c Wagner b Butler 27, A. Ali c Beard b Neesham 14, Misbah-ul-Haq b Butler 46, I. Khalid c Wagner b Neesham 12, M. Salman c de Boorder b Wagner 10, S. Ajmal (not out) 9, E. Adil (run out) 4, Asad Ali (not out) 0. Extras (lb 3, w 5) 8, Total (for 8 wkts; in 20 overs) 139.
FoW: 1-5, 2-12, 3-34, 4-95, 5-108, 6-117, 7-127, 8-136.
Bowling: Butler 4-0-23-2 (1w), McMillan 4-0-24-2 (1w), Wagner 4-0-25-1 (1w), Neesham 4-0-26-2 (2w), Beard 2-0-12-0, McCullum 2-0-26-0.
Otago Volts: N. Broom c Shehzad b Samiullah 0, H. Rutherford c Ali b Ajmal 25, B. McCullum (not out) 83, DC de Boorder (not out) 30. Extras (lb 2, w 2) 4. Total (for 2 wkts; in 17.5 overs) 142.
FoW: 1-0, 2-41.
Bowling: Samiullah 3-0-18-1, Asad 2.5-0-29-0, Shehzad 2-0-19-0, Ajmal 4-0-23-1 (2w), Khalid 4-0-32-0, Adil 2-0-19-0.